Jailed
by VoicesOffCamera
Summary: "It's not a big deal…" Soda hedged. Darry was quiet, waiting for Soda to finish. He heard Soda sigh on the other end of the phone. "We're at the police station. We need you to bail us out." -What happens when Soda and Steve get into some trouble?- One Shot


**Author's Note: So I've had an awful week… and when I get stressed I write a lot. So here's a quick little One-Shot that I wrote on a whim. Hope you like it!**

_Jailed_

"Darry is gonna kill me."

Sodapop Curtis was pacing nervously. He didn't smoke often, but he was craving a cigarette just then. His best friend, Steve Randle, was sitting on a bench watching Soda pace. He silently held out his pack of cigarettes and let Soda take one as if he had read his mind. He knew Soda well. Steve was already on his second cigarette as he inhaled deeply and leaned his head back against the wall behind him.

"If you think Darry will kill you, just imagine what my dad is gonna do to me," Steve said with a humorless laugh, tapping his cigarette on the edge of the bench and scattering ashes over the floor.

Soda sighed, knowing that Steve was right. If Steve's father found out about this it would be very bad.

"Hey, can I get a light over here?" Soda called through the bars of the holding cell.

Soda and Steve had been arrested almost an hour ago. The officers had confiscated Steve lighter when they had booked the two of them even though they had let them keep Steve's pack of Kools. A uniformed police officer was sitting farther down the row of mostly empty cells – the only other occupants being a couple of drunks a few cells down – leafing through a magazine and smoking himself. He looked up and snorted. He looked back down at the magazine and seemed to finish the article he was reading before he finally stood and took his time walking over to the cell, eyeing Soda coolly. Finally the officer held up Steve's confiscated lighter and allowed Soda to light his cigarette off the flame through the bars.

"Thank you kind sir," Soda muttered sarcastically as the officer walked away. He took a few steps and sat down on the hard metal bench next to Steve. He inhaled the calming smoke into his lungs and held his breath for several seconds before he slowly blew it back out. "Well this is a mess."

"Yeah, what are we gonna do about it?" Steve asked, taking a long drag. "We can't just sit here. And I can't call _my_ parents. I mean I could if you really want me to." He shot Soda a look that said that he wasn't going to call his parents even if he did really want him to.

"Yeah, I know," Soda said with a sigh of defeat. Of course he didn't want Steve to call his parents. They really only had one option. He took another drag from his cigarette. He knew what he had to do. He stood back up and walked back over to the bars. "Waiter!" he called good-naturedly, putting his hand up through the bars and waving down at the officer who had resumed his post. "When you get a moment, I'd like my phone call please!"

XxXxX

Darry looked up from his newspaper as the phone rang. He reached over and picked it up after three rings.

"Hello?" he said distractedly, his eyes still on his newspaper.

"Hey Darry."

"Soda?" Darry asked. It was very odd for Soda to be calling on the phone. "Where are you?"

"I was wondering if you could pick me and Steve up," Soda said vaguely, clearly avoiding the question.

"Pick you up where?" Darry asked suspiciously as he slowly put his newspaper down and leaned forward. He didn't like where this was going.

"It's not a big deal…" Soda hedged. Darry was quiet, waiting for Soda to finish. He heard Soda sigh on the other end of the phone. "We're at the police station. We need you to bail us out."

Darry rubbed his hand over his face as he silently counted to ten. "What?" he said in a low voice, though he was sure he had heard his brother correctly.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise," Soda said pleadingly. "I don't even think we're being charged with anything, but they said they won't let us out till someone comes and gets us."

Darry sighed loudly. "I'll be right there," he said. Then he hung up before Soda could say anything else. It was his first afternoon off in two weeks and this wasn't how he wanted to be spending it. He walked down to Pony's room and found him sitting on his bed reading. "Hey Pony, I gotta run out real quick."

Pony looked up from his book. "I thought you were staying in today," he said.

"Well I was," Darry said. "But I gotta go get your knucklehead of a brother."

"Get him from where?" Pony asked.

Darry sighed. "The cooler."

Pony gave a start. "He got arrested?"

"Sounds like him and Steve both did," Darry said shaking his head.

"Why?" Pony asked, sounding shocked

"I dunno yet," Darry admitted.

"Want me to go with you?" Pony asked.

"That's okay kiddo," Darry said. "I'll straighten this out."

"Okay," Pony said, unsurely.

Darry went out to the kitchen to grab his keys before heading out to this truck. On the entire ride to the police station downtown he tried to think up reasons why Soda would get jailed. He knew Soda wasn't stupid enough to try and rob a drug store or something like that. He figured the most likely reason would be fighting.

The police station looked intimidating as he pulled into the parking lot. He had to remind himself that he was supposed to be the adult. He just hoped that whatever Soda had gotten himself into wasn't so bad that it would land him in a boy's home. He dreaded thinking what would happen when their social worker found out about this. Soda was usually smarter than this. He usually used his head.

Inside the police station was fairly deserted. He walked up to an older uniformed officer sitting behind a reception-like desk and waited for him to acknowledge him.

"I'm here to pick up my boneheaded little brother and his accomplice," Darry stated dryly.

The officer looked up at him coldly, not at all amused. Darry wasn't surprised. He could have a very dry sense of humor sometimes, especially when he was stressed. He got that from his dad.

"Names?" the officer said dully.

"Sodapop Curtis and Steven Randle," Darry said shortly.

The officer shuffled through some papers with one hand. "You're relation to the boys?"

"I'm Sodapop's legal guardian," Darry said. "I'll vouch for Steve too though. I don't think his parents are comin'."

There was a pause and for a moment Darry was nervous that the officer wouldn't release Steve to him as well. Technically if whatever Steve had done to get arrested was bad enough the cop could say that only his parents could pick him up since he was still a minor. Then the officer glanced behind him at a younger officer who was standing by a door that Darry assumed led back to where the jail cells where. He had never been arrested before so he wouldn't really know.

"Would you go get the two circus boys for release?" the officer said.

"Can I ask what it is they did to get arrested?" Darry asked as the younger officer disappeared through the door. He was trying to figure out what the officer meant by 'circus boys' and was coming up with nothing.

The officer sighed. "Seems they were disturbing the peace," he said vaguely.

"Yes, they disturb my peace constantly," Darry said. "Could you be a little more specific?"

He looked down at one of the papers in front of him. "According to this they were downtown walking down the sidewalks on their hands and flipping around and causing a general ruckus."

Darry just stared for a moment in disbelief. Was he serious? They had arrested two teenaged boys just for doing acrobatics down a sidewalk?

"That's it?" Darry asked, raising his eyebrows quizzically, waiting to hear that they had at least assaulted someone in the process.

"That's it," the officer confirmed stiffly, staring up at Darry with an almost comically serious expression.

"Must have been a real slow day for you boys," Darry muttered sarcastically. The officer snorted but made no comment. "So are they being charged with anything?" he asked.

"Just a warning," the officer said.

Darry nodded. He was glad that he wouldn't have to pay bail but he was also annoyed that the police were actually making this big of a deal out of this. But at least since it was only a warning there wouldn't be a record and they wouldn't have to tell the social worker. It all seemed just so silly. He was sure that Soda and Steve weren't hurting anyone. They just liked to entertain people. The two of them had been the most enthusiastic about learning acrobatic tricks after Darry had taken a class at the local Y a few weeks ago. They were both highly competitive, always trying to outdo one another.

He knew what was really going on here though. It wasn't just because a couple of teenagers were doing acrobatics down a sidewalk downtown. It was because two hoods were putting on a display and getting a lot of attention. They were Greasers so they were immediately considered dangerous.

Darry decided that he better not make any more comments to the officer since he couldn't think of anything that wasn't incredibly rude or sarcastic. He silently waited until the back door finally opened and the younger officer reappeared with Steve and Soda in tow. They both looked nervous and Darry decided to let them sweat a little longer as he silently nodded his head toward the door, indicating that they should leave. Soda and Steve were both quiet as he followed them outside and into the parking lot.

"I can't believe you two," Darry said once they were outside, struggling to keep his voice serious. "Walking down a sidewalk on your hands? Don't you know that is a terrible danger to society?"

Soda looked up at him with a confused expression and Darry couldn't help but grin at him. Then he burst out into laughter.

"I'm glad _you_ think it's funny," Steve muttered moodily shoving his hands into his pockets. "You weren't stuck in that smelly jail cell for over two hours. A drunk puked two cells down an hour and thirty-eight God-awful minutes ago. I thought I was gonna suffocate from the stench."

Soda was chuckling as well though, looking relieved that Darry saw the humor in the situation. "Personally I think the cops were just jealous," he said.

Darry laughed. "I oughta knock both your heads together just for getting arrested for something so damn stupid."

Steve rolled his eyes, clearly not amused. He put a cigarette between his lips as they approached the truck and dug in his pockets for a moment. Then he cursed loudly.

"They didn't give me my lighter back!" Steve started back toward the station but Darry reached over and grabbed him by the upper arm, holding him back.

"No way, you ain't goin' back in there," he said firmly. He was very familiar with Steve's temper. Although at times he could be as happy-go-lucky as his best friend Soda, his temper could take very sudden dangerous turns. "I will get you another lighter."

"They _stole_ my lighter!" Steve raged. "_That's_ criminal! They should be jailed themselves!"

"Yeah well, you go bustin' back in there, they are just gonna arrest you _again_," Darry pointed out rationally. "And if they press charges only your parents will be able to bail you out." It wasn't necessarily true. Since Steve had recently turned seventeen it was likely that anyone with the money would be allowed to bail him out. But just the thought was enough to get Steve's head back on straight.

"Cops just do whatever the hell they want," he muttered darkly as he turned and climbed into Darry's truck.

"Don't sweat it," Soda said as he climbed in after his friend. "They're just thugs with badges. They were just lookin' for an excuse to arrest a couple of Greasers."

Darry climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. Then he glanced over at Soda and Steve and snorted with laughter as he imagined them walking on their hands down a crowded sidewalk.

"Shut it!" Steve growled.

But Soda elbowed him, cracking a grin himself. "C'mon, it's _kinda_ funny!" he insisted.

"No it ain't," Steve said stubbornly.

"Can you think of a dumber reason to get arrested?" Darry asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Didn't Two-Bit get jailed for public nudity a while back?" Soda asked, laughing.

"I don't think that quite tops this," Darry said, grinning. "At least he was wasted at the time. He doesn't even remember it."

"I can't wait to see Dally," Soda said brightly. "I'm gonna tell him, you think you're so tuff getting jailed for holding up a gas station? Well _I _got jailed for doing acrobatics down a downtown sidewalk. Now _that's_ tuff!"

Steve tried to glare at Soda, but couldn't keep a smile from cracking his serious expression. Soda could make anyone laugh.

"That'll make Dally jealous," Steve said sarcastically with a laugh.

The mood within the truck was significantly lighter after that as all three boys laughed and poked fun at the absurdity of the whole situation.

XxXxX

**Author's Note: So after I had this piece pretty much done I went back to read the part in the book where Pony mentions this… and realized that it was actually Two-Bit and not Steve who had gotten jailed with Soda. Whoops! But since this story really doesn't work with Two-Bit I'm gonna leave it as is and consider this an AU. Hope you still liked it! Please review!**


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